ACT No. XXV of 2025 AN ACT to amend the Conduct Certificates Ordinance, Cap. 77, and the Restorative Justice Act, Cap. 516, to introduce various measures in relation to conduct certificates and the rehabilitation of persons into society.

I assent.

(L.S.)

MYRIAM SPITERI DEBONO

President

1st August, 2025

ACT No. XXV of 2025

AN ACT to amend the Conduct Certificates Ordinance, Cap. 77,

and the Restorative Justice Act, Cap. 516, to introduce various

measures in relation to conduct certificates and the rehabilitation of

persons into society.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:-

The short title of this Act is the Various Laws relating to Short title.

Conduct Certificates and the Rehabilitation of Persons into Society

(Amendment) Act, 2025.

PART I

Amendments to the Conduct Certificates Ordinance

This Part amends the Conduct Certificates Ordinance and it Amendments to

shall be read and construed as one with the Conduct Certificates the

Certificates

Ordinance, hereinafter in this Part referred to as the "principal law".

Ordinance.

Immediately after article 4 of the principal law there shall be Addition of new

articles to the

principal law.

added the following new articles

(1) Any person to whom a certificate in

accordance with Form B in the First Schedule is issued

or may be issued in accordance with paragraph (b) of

article 4, may apply to the Rehabilitation Certificates

Board established by article 4B to be issued with a

Rehabilitation Certificate.

(2) The application referred to in sub-article (1)

shall be made by not later than two (2) months prior to

the date of the applicant’s release from the correctional

facility and the Rehabilitation Certificate shall be

issued on the day of release of the applicant from the

correctional facility or by not later than fifteen (15)

days thereafter

Provided that the Rehabilitation Certificates

Board may within three (3) months from the coming

into force of this article or in exceptional cases and for

good reason receive an application and issue a

certificate not within the time limits provided for in this

sub-article.

(3) A Rehabilitation Certificate shall be strictly

factual and shall list the rehabilitative programmes in

which the applicant has participated whilst serving the

sentence, and it shall also indicate whether the

applicant was subjected to disciplinary punishments

during that period due to his behaviour in the

correctional facility. The certificate shall be issued by

the Rehabilitation Certificates Board after verifying the

relevant facts either directly or through a sub-

committee thereof.

(1) There shall be a Board to be known as

Certificates Board.

the Rehabilitation Certificates Board, hereinafter in this

article referred to as the "Board", which shall be

competent to issue Rehabilitation Certificates.

(2) The Rehabilitation Certificates Board shall be

composed as follows

(a) a Chairperson appointed by the

Minister responsible for correctional services;

(b) the Director of the Corradino

Correctional Facility ex officio;

(c) the Director of the Department

responsible for probation and parole ex officio

Provided that the members referred to in

paragraphs (b) and (c) may appoint an officer from the

Corradino Correctional Facility and an officer from the

Department for Probation and Parole respectively as

their representative to act in their stead on the Board.

(3) The Chairperson of the Board shall be

appointed for a period of four (4) years which may be

renewed for a further period of four (4) years.

(4) The Board shall when in its discretion it

considers that the work exigencies so require, have the

power to appoint one or more sub-committees to be

composed from amongst social workers, co-ordinators

of educational programmes and psychologists, who are

active in the correctional facility, and representatives of

non-governmental organisations active in the field of

rehabilitation of persons sentenced to imprisonment.

(5) The Board and its sub-committees shall have

the power to hear witnesses and shall be granted access

to the documents concerning the applicant held by the

correctional facility for the purpose of carrying out their

functions

Provided that the application for a

Rehabilitation Certificate shall include the applicant’s

explicit consent for the Board to process his personal

data for the purpose of issuing a Rehabilitation

Certificate.

(6) The Board and its sub-committees shall

regulate their own procedure.".

4. Article 5 of the principal law shall be amended as follows

Amendment of

article 5 of the

principal law.

(a) in paragraph (d) thereof, immediately after the words

"of the Probation Act" there shall be added the words "or relates

to a sentence which is suspended and has not taken effect"; and

(b) paragraph (e) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(e) it is a sentence whereby the only punishment

imposed is a fine (multa) and the said fine (multa) was

paid or a conviction for an offence under the Medical

and Kindred Professions Ordinance or under the

Dangerous Drugs Ordinance or under any other law for

possession for personal use of a prohibited drug.".

In the first proviso to article 6 of the principal law the words ", Amendment of

including a suspended sentence," shall be substituted by the words ", article

principal law.

including a suspended sentence that has come into effect,".

In article 7 of the principal law the words "Medical and

Kindred Professions Ordinance, or who have been sentenced" shall be

substituted by the words "Medical and Kindred Professions Ordinance

or, when a court in giving judgment so orders, to persons who are

recidivists in crimes liable to a punishment of imprisonment exceeding

three (3) years which arise from acts which constitute gender based

violence or domestic violence, or who have been sentenced".

Article 7A of the principal law shall be deleted.

Article 8A of the principal law shall be substituted by the

following new article

Where a person has been convicted of an

offence which has been subsequently decriminalised or

depenalised or which relates to a conviction for an

offence which was subsequently included in article 5 as a

conviction or order which shall not be entered in a

conduct certificate issued under this Ordinance, such

person may send a written request to the Government

department or entity responsible for the issue of conduct

certificates, to deregister the said conviction from his

conduct certificate, and the said Government department

or entity shall, upon ensuring that such offence is no

longer subject to being entered in a conduct certificate or

has been so decriminalised or depenalised, accept such

person’s request and effect the said deregistration.".

The second column of the Second Schedule to the principal

law shall be amended as follows

(a) in item (a) thereof the words "10 years" shall be

substituted by the words "5 years";

(b) in item (b) thereof the words "5 years" shall be

substituted by the words "3 years";

(c) in item (c) thereof the words "3 years" shall be

substituted by the words "2 years";

(d) in item (d) thereof in the second column only, the

words "1 year" shall be substituted by the words "3 months if the

punishment does not exceed 6 months and 6 months if the

punishment exceeds 6 months"; and

(e) in item (e) thereof the words "6 months from date of

payment of the fine" shall be substituted by the words "upon

payment of the fine (multa)".

PART II

Amendment to the Restorative Justice Act

This Part amends the Restorative Justice Act and it shall be Amendment to

read and construed as one with the Restorative Justice Act, hereinafter the

Justice Act.

in this Part referred to as the "principal Act".

Immediately after Part VI of the principal Act there shall be Addition of a

new Part and

added the following new Part and articles

articles to the

principal Act.

"PART VI A

Duty of Public Authorities to Encourage Rehabilitation

43A. (1) Public authorities shall in the exercise of

their policy making, regulatory and licensing functions

endeavour to facilitate the rehabilitation of persons who

have been sentenced to a criminal punishment and to

accommodate their rehabilitation needs. In particular, in

exercising their discretion as to whether to issue an

authorisation for the exercise of an activity by such

persons, the public authorities shall duly consider

whether instead of denying such authorisation, they

may reasonably accommodate the rehabilitation needs

by opting in favour of issuing the authorisation subject

to such conditions, limitations or other measures as may

be authorised by law and as they may consider

appropriate to reasonably accommodate the situation of

the person with the aim of encouraging rehabilitation

into society.

(2) Banks, financial institutions and employers

shall in the exercise of their activities endeavour to

enable the rehabilitation of persons who have been

sentenced to a criminal punishment and to

accommodate the rehabilitation needs of such persons.

In particular, they shall only subject such persons to

exclusions from services or from employment when

such exclusions are provided by law or are objectively

justifiable in view of the nature of the service or of the

employment.

43B. (1) There shall be a Board to be known as

(Licensing Powers)

the Rehabilitation (Licensing Powers) Board,

hereinafter in this article referred to as the "Board",

which shall be competent to hear complaints about

exclusions or restrictions made by any public authority

with respect to the issuance of any licence or permit to a

person who has been sentenced to a criminal

punishment by reason of the said sentence and to make

general or specific recommendations to the public

authority concerned in respect of the application of the

said exclusions or restrictions.

(2) The Board may also act upon its own motion to

examine any licensing exclusions or restrictions

applicable to persons sentenced to a criminal

punishment and draw a report thereon to the Minister.

(3) The Board shall be appointed by the Minister

and shall be composed as follows

(a) a Chairperson having at least five (5)

years work experience in fields related to the

criminal justice system or to correctional

facilities;

(b) two (2) members nominated by the

Minister responsible for justice;

(c) two (2) members from the public

service nominated by the Principal Permanent

Secretary;

(d) two (2) members appointed after

consultation with non-governmental organisations

active in the field of rehabilitation of persons who

have been sentenced to a criminal punishment, as

determined by the Minister; and

(e) two (2) members appointed after

consultation with organisations representing

employers and workers respectively, as

determined by the Minister.

(4) The Minister shall appoint a person to act as

Secretary to the Board who shall not have a vote.

(5) The Chairperson and the members of the Board

shall be appointed for a period of three (3) years and

shall be eligible for reappointment for another term of

three (3) years.

(6) The Chairperson and the members of the Board

may at any time resign their post by means of a letter

addressed to the Minister in which case the Minister

shall appoint another person to act instead of the person

who resigned for the remaining part of the term of

appointment according to the same procedure by which

the person who resigned was appointed to the Board.

(7) In the exercise of its functions the Board may

request the advice of experts, as may be necessary.

(8) The Minister, after consultation with the Board,

shall by means of regulations establish the procedure of

the said Board.

(9) The Board shall inform the public on its

decisions in such manner as it deems appropriate whilst

adhering to the principles of personal data protection.".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 371 of the

29th July, 2025.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

ELEANOR SCERRI

Clerk of the House of Representatives

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